What He Saw and... a Side Quest!

The facts proved that Li Yun's guess had not been far off.

When he noticed that most living creatures had already vanished without a trace amid the city's ruins, while only things like rats, snakes, and ants could still survive here more or less normally, he had roughly guessed where the "way out" lay.

—Underground.

But quickly digging out an underground space large enough to hold more than a dozen people was obviously unrealistic.

Especially considering that after the newcomers were dropped into the mission world, they only had three days to complete their survival mission...

All he could say was that the Main God might have intended for the newcomers to dig a hole, but it was unlikely the Main God actually expected them to dig a hole.

After all, even with suitable tools in hand and no additional supplies, an ordinary person would start showing obvious exhaustion after digging dirt for half a day.

Besides, just like the famous Black Tortoise Gate, a proper basement could not be built in a day.

This was confirmed when Li Yun dug up several water-filled plant roots to barely replenish some of his strength, while also verifying that this ruined city was not located in any unusual geological region and that its soil was no softer than the farmland he remembered.

Judging by the time available, trying to find an old basement that might exist somewhere in the city—but might just as easily have deteriorated and collapsed already—would probably be too late as well.

So where else could they hide?

Adjusting his glasses, someone's gaze quickly settled on the towering buildings in the distance.

Relatively speaking, since they clearly could not imitate some master mole and burrow deep underground, especially when the group had found no public underground structures such as a city subway along the way...

If there was anywhere nearby that could barely be considered to have "depth," it was probably those places...

So he "casually" mentioned to Old Li, who was actually a fairly honest man, that they could consider checking that area out.

In truth, Li Yun had already relied solely on careful observation and thought to drag this group around nearly every potential "pitfall" hidden among countless details.

...But he really could not stand how overly "honest" this Old Li fellow was acting!

Honestly, you could not possibly inspect every single problem, right? What if you really spotted some major issue?

The people around them probably still thought Li Yun had been courting death when he repeatedly reached out to test that trace of red moonlight.

What they did not know was that when this veteran had poked his head out and then raised it to look upward, that one glance had been true "courting death"!

The moment Li Yun saw him freeze completely while his mental energy response abruptly began to churn wildly, like Mentos dropped into Coke, he knew that Old Li had probably seen something "big"!

After all, before they had entered the building, someone had already sensed a faint, barely noticeable reddish glow within that "sunset," where the sun had never actually appeared.

...A faint influence that had not truly manifested yet, acting upon both mind and body.

It felt very familiar.

It was the faint sign of "falling into a dream."

Extremely subtle, yet carrying an almost compulsory attraction, an irresistibly compelling quality.

But one could imagine that the end point of that "dream" would definitely not be an ordinary dream experienced during normal sleep.

There was no need to take the risk.

Being forcibly dragged into a "dream" while already in a dream world sounded rather interesting. Under normal circumstances, Li Yun would not have minded trying it once or twice.

But that did not mean this sliver of his present consciousness, this self-projection—or rather, "avatar"—undergoing a Visitor mission, could afford not to care.

No one knew what would happen if they were dragged into a dream under such circumstances. Even Li Yun did not know—after all, this was merely a rough "design" created by the Main God, and he had not interfered with it.

He simply instinctively sensed one fact: if he still wanted to clear the Visitor mission successfully, it would be best not to let something so obviously troublesome happen.

So, when he realized that this fellow, who had obediently looked up the instant he was told to, had clearly fallen for it, and that even his thought fluctuations were immediately beginning to display an abnormal "slowing"—a sign of falling into a dream...

Li Yun decisively gathered his consciousness and, relying on the scant remnant of mental power left in his current weakened state, directly dealt him an invisible, formless blow on the mental plane!

It knocked the man unconscious on the spot, his eyes rolling back as his core consciousness nearly blanked out completely. Only then was the process interrupted!

But when Li Yun turned around, this guy had only just woken up. Perhaps the lingering effects from before had caused a slight mutation in his eyes, because he inadvertently began seeing something strange again...

"Old Li, it really looks like you don't want to clear this mission world at all..."

Seeing this unlucky fellow, whose influence had once again been interrupted in time before he truly sank into it as before, probably only suffering a second stimulus that had temporarily muddled his mind...

Li Yun could not help but sigh.

—If triggering landmines was a discipline, then the other man truly had talent for it.

He casually released his grip and let Old Li, whose mind was clearly a complete mess right now, slump limply to the side.

Li Yun had just bent his knees and jumped down from the "platform" when the Indian man beside him looked over in shock. Apparently realizing something was wrong, he softly called out while trying to climb back up to check on that "divine messenger."

Ignoring the actions of this believer, who was clearly still somewhat devout in his faith, Li Yun casually answered the uneasy questions of those beside him. "The gentleman up there is fine. He just needs to rest for a while first."

Deliberately avoiding the others, Li Yun quietly sat down in a sheltered corner. Rather than continuing to observe the changing conditions outside, he closed his eyes and rested briefly.

Under the current conditions, even he felt somewhat tired with this greatly weakened physical and mental state.

To be honest, especially when he had given Old Li a Mind Blast on the second floor earlier, the drain on Li Yun's energy had been rather obvious.

But more fundamentally...

It was probably because, during that extremely brief moment when he released the mental attack and struck the other man's consciousness, he had also more or less experienced a trace of the other man's perception in that instant.

Mental entanglement often had a degree of reciprocity.

Though he had not witnessed it with his own eyes, even the incomplete transmission of vague "consciousness information" allowed Li Yun to indirectly and dimly "see" what the other man had seen at that moment—

Through his eyes.

In that sky, where even the light seemed to carry an abnormal reddish hue, apart from the increasingly dense black cracks...

There was only a moon so enormous it seemed unreal, slowly yet swiftly piercing through the clouds, gradually revealing its suffocating outline within human pupils.

The abnormal difference in brightness between indoors and outdoors made the "witness's" eyes perceive things more clearly in the darkness than they would in daylight.

He saw clearly that it was neither the familiar bright silver-white people knew, nor a hazy dim yellow, but a crimson so dense it could not dissolve, so dark it made one's heart tremble.

A flawless red moon, as though it had just been fished out of a sea of blood!

...That was the truth the witness had glimpsed at the time.

During those few seconds of remembered observation, before that "gaze" finally lost consciousness and fell into blankness... someone had even noticed details the actual witness had failed to detect, or rather, could not comprehend, including the full picture.

...Across that vast blood-red surface, there was clearly something "alive," slowly and viscously flowing.

That perfectly round Blood Moon itself resembled an incomparably enormous "eyeball," silently gazing upon this tiny land from the boundless dark of space...

Gazing at... every pupil that gazed back at it!

He actively cut off the impression and slowly opened his eyes.

He did not even need a mirror to guess that bloodshot veins must have appeared in his eyes as well.

The dim light shining in through the window and spilling through the glass onto the floor had become increasingly crimson, even taking on a strangely viscous texture.

But he did not pay too much attention to that. He merely looked down at one of his hands.

That left hand, which he had repeatedly allowed the moonlight to shine upon while its color had not yet become so "dense," had now at least regained its outward calm.

Yet he could still feel a subtle hint of spirituality within it, along with a slight "disharmony" existing between flesh and blood and the mind.

It was quite strange.

Since the exposure had been brief and noncontinuous, the specific influence this hand had suffered was naturally not that great.

But after he finally suppressed the faint influence originating from the blood-red moonlight, that unconscious, obscure agitation—or perhaps "assimilation"—he was certain that subtle changes, difficult to truly perceive, had appeared in his palm.

A manifestation somewhat similar to the so-called "union of spirit and flesh," where the mind could directly affect outward material characteristics?

No, it had not reached that level yet.

But...

He slowly clenched his fist. His knuckles tightened, and the bones beneath his skin faintly protruded. As his thoughts emptied, nearly without thought or desire, there remained only a calm clarity that was neither impulse nor attachment.

Soon, a hazy glow faintly emerged over his fist, appearing and disappearing like a thin veil draped over the surface of his skin.

At the same time, an extremely subtle trembling spread through the air, enough to make the hairs all over his body stand on end, carrying a faint numbing sensation.

"...Oh, static electricity?"

Things seemed to be getting interesting.

Within his line of sight, a tiny fragment on the ground seemed to be drawn by an invisible force. It trembled gently, then suddenly lifted off the floor and naturally adhered to his palm.

Li Yun blinked. As a trace of surprise rose within him, his mind relaxed, and the light in his palm disappeared without a trace.

...It was weak, but it had indeed formed a faint connection with his mind.

Looking at this hand, still as smooth as jade, he frowned slightly.

What exactly was going on?

Setting aside certain special influences involving the mind, the qualities of Li Yun's current projected body were indeed much stronger than those of an ordinary person, but fundamentally, they could still be considered within the limits of reason.

Yet after merely being exposed to moonlight a few times, it had begun showing such abnormal reactions. What exactly was this blood-red light...

Someone suddenly fell silent.

He abruptly recalled certain things he had seen through Old Li's eyes: inconspicuous details, deep traces that continued to flow within that "eye" beyond the heavens...

Blood-red...

So it really was blood?

As though confirming Li Yun's guess, a brief notification suddenly sounded.

[—You have uncovered part of the relevant world-setting information. Exploration Score +1.]

Unexpectedly, the Main God's voice, still utterly flat and businesslike, did not stop there this time.

[Visitor Li Yun, you have successfully triggered a side quest.]

[Side Quest—Mystery of Divine Blood]

[Quest Description: One day several years ago, astronomers accidentally observed an inconspicuous blood-red meteor in the vast night sky, falling from afar toward the only satellite of the planet beneath their feet: the moon.

[What they did not know was that this small meteor, named Blood Rose, contained a drop of Divine Child Fetal Blood of unknown origin. For some reason, its remaining core miraculously landed on the moon...]

[Thus, after three planetary rotation cycles had passed.

[In the darkness of night, the blood-red moonlight that finally descended shrouded everything within humanity's sight...]

[Quest Requirement: Find a way to reach the place where the Divine Child Fetal Blood first descended within fourteen planetary revolution cycles, uncover its secret, and save the remaining life on the planet beneath your feet.]

[Additional Notice: Please note that once this side quest is accepted, the Visitor's current main quest will automatically be voided. The mission world's difficulty rating will simultaneously rise to "Four Stars / Medium." Please choose carefully.]

[Quest Reward: Three Universal Points...]

"...Nicely said. I refuse."

Before he even heard the full explanation, Li Yun spoke expressionlessly, decisively stating his clear refusal.

As the quest notification by his ear came to an abrupt halt, the light screen before him and the large blocks of text appearing upon it vanished as well.

He ignored the brief looks of surprise and suspicion cast by the others in the office, with no intention of explaining himself.

Li Yun simply stood up quietly.

What a joke. If one had to put it plainly, he was only a "dogshit planner" here to conduct initial operational testing, perhaps also to handle his personal identity information, leave behind some traces, and prepare for the possibility that he might need to conceal something one day.

Who had the time and energy, under his current conditions, to challenge a mission that plainly involved a ruined world where human civilization was likely already nearing extinction just from the background introduction alone—then find a way, at any cost, to rush to the moon within fourteen years and seek out the place where the so-called Divine Child Fetal Blood had first descended, along with its related secrets?

This was simply not something Main God users of the current level should be touching, alright?

...According to a certain rule Li Yun knew from the difficulty-rating standards established by the Main God at the time, where "one star equaled two tiers."

For this side quest that had suddenly appeared to leap from a mere one-star Visitor main quest to a four-star difficulty rating, it meant that by the Main God's assessment, this was a high-level mission theoretically suitable only for beings of at least the seventh or eighth tier!

Didn't the mission information itself say that even the Main God had proactively reminded him to "choose carefully"?!

That was plainly telling him there was a trap inside!